Weight, Karmanos named to US Hockey Hall of Fame

July 26, 2013

Doug Weight (left) and Peter Karmanos Jr. (right) are two of the pioneers that shaped the NAHL into what it is today.

Two former members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) have been selected to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the Class of 2013, USA Hockey announced today. The date and location of the induction event will be announced later this summer.

The Hall of Fame will induct former NAHL Owner and Governor Peter Karmanos, Jr. (Raleigh, North Carolina) and former NAHL player Doug Weight (Warren, Michigan)

"This is a class that represents extraordinary contribution and success in many different areas of our sport," said Ron DeGregorio, president of USA Hockey. "It's a truly remarkable collection of individuals, all so very deserving of their place among immortals in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame."

Doug Weight's NHL career spanned 19 seasons, during which he played for the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders. Weight played the 1988-89 season in the NAHL for the Bloomfield Jets. Despite the team only posting six wins during that season, Weight led the league in scoring as a 17-year-old rookie with 92 points (32 goals, 60 assists) in just 40 games played. He secured a scholarship during the season to play NCAA Division I hockey for Lake Superior State.

After two years at Lake Superior State University (1989-91), Weight stepped into the lineup of the New York Rangers, who had drafted him 34th overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. In 1993, less than two seasons into his pro career, he was traded to the Oilers, for whom he played the next eight seasons. The playmaking center, who served as team captain his final two seasons in Edmonton, set career highs for assists (79) and points (104) during the 1995-96 campaign. After three-plus seasons in St. Louis, Weight was traded to Carolina, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2006. The final five seasons of his career were spent with the Blues (2006-08), Ducks (2008) and lastly the Islanders. In his last year, Weight captained the Islanders and received the 2011 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contributions. In 1,238 career NHL games, Weight scored 278 times and racked up 755 assists.

Weight put on the U.S. sweater at nine major international competitions, including three Olympic Winter Games (1998, 2002, 2006), three IIHF Men's World Championships (1993, 1994, 2005), two World Cups of Hockey (1996, 2004) and one IIHF World Junior Championship (1991). The 14 assists and 19 points that he notched for the 1991 U.S. National Junior Team are single-tournament records for the U.S. Later, he helped Team USA to the gold medal at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and received a silver medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The owner and chief executive officer of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, Peter Karmanos, Jr., has used his business acumen to build an empire of hockey at all levels of the game in the United States for more than five decades.

As retired executive chairman of the board for Detroit-based Compuware, he has sponsored one of America's most successful youth hockey programs of the same name, including the Compuware Ambassadors club which played in the NAHL from 1984-2003. Karmanos' name appears on the Robertson Cup a record 11 times, more than anyone else in league history.

During that 20-year span in the NAHL, Compuware set a new standard of excellence in United States junior hockey. Compuware was the only Junior A franchise in North America to win the USA Gold Cup national championship four times -- in 1985, 1994, 1999 and 2002. In those 20 years of existence, Compuware also won an NAHL-record 11 Robertson Cup Championships and several of their players moved on to the NHL, including Doug Weight, Jimmy Carson, Pat LaFontaine, Brian Rolston and Eric Lindros. Hundreds more went on to play hockey in the NCAA and NHL.

In 1994, Karmanos acquired the Hartford Whalers and two seasons later moved the team to Raleigh, N.C. Since the team's arrival in North Carolina, the Hurricanes have enjoyed success both on and off the ice, highlighted by winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. In addition, the team has advanced to the conference finals three times in the last 11 seasons and captured the Eastern Conference title in 2002 and 2006. The Hurricanes were recognized as the top hockey franchise and second-ranked franchise in all of sports in 2009 by ESPN in the "Ultimate Standings," a collection of data and survey results that take into account a team's on-ice success as well as its community impact and overall fan experience.

Karmanos also owns the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, the ECHL's Florida Everblades and several arenas. In 2012 he received USA Hockey's Distinguished Achievement Award, and in 1998 the NHL honored him with the Lester Patrick Award for his outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductees are chosen on the basis of extraordinary contribution to the sport of hockey in the United States. The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1973. To date, there are 156 enshrined members in the Hall. For information on the members of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, visit www.USHockeyHallofFame.com